Music + 2011 in review | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/music+world/series/2011-in-review
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Music: a handy guide to 2011https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/dec/28/music-handy-guide-2011
Reckon a dubstep breakdown is something the AA can fix? That REM split up 15 years ago? Or that the artwork on Lady Gaga's album was good? Then you need to read on …<p>• Lana has been described as the "gangsta Nancy Sinatra".</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/dec/28/music-handy-guide-2011">Continue reading...</a>MusicLady GagaREMMichael BubléLana Del ReyDubstepCultureElectronic musicPop and rockDance musicWed, 28 Dec 2011 20:59:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/dec/28/music-handy-guide-2011Photograph: Nicole NodlandLana Del Rey. Photograph: Nicole NodlandPhotograph: Nicole NodlandLana Del Rey. Photograph: Nicole NodlandPeter Robinson2011-12-28T20:59:01ZTop Music stories of 2011- from Adele to Amy Winehousehttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/27/top-music-stories-2011
From interviews with Adele and Lady Gaga to memories of Amy Winehouse, here's 20 of the best of our Music features and videos from 2011 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/27/top-music-stories-2011">Continue reading...</a>MusicCultureTue, 27 Dec 2011 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/27/top-music-stories-2011Guardian Staff2011-12-27T10:00:00ZCultural highlights of 2011 from the New Reviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/26/cultural-highlights-2011
A selection of some of our favourite film, music, art, stage and books articles from the Observer New Review in 2011, in case you missed them first time around<p><strong><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/sep/17/grayson-perry-tomb-craftsman-museum">Grayson Perry: How I went behind the scenes at the British Museum</a></strong><br>Turner prize-winning transvestite potter Grayson Perry long cherished an ambition to show his own art – his own 'civilisation', as he calls it – alongside the great ancient civilisations of the world – but little dreamed the British Museum would agree to his proposal…<br>• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/sep/18/grayson-perry-tomb-of-the-unknown-craftsman-in-pictures">Grayson Perry's Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman - in pictures</a><br><strong><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/aug/28/100-years-of-neon"><br>Neon: 100 years of the greatest light show on earth</a></strong><br>Peter Conrad celebrates a century of the medium that sells the raffish charms of America and has inspired film-makers and artists, from Hitchcock and Coppola to Bruce Nauman and Tracey Emin<br><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/aug/28/100-years-neon-in-pictures">•&nbsp;100 years of neon - in pictures</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/26/cultural-highlights-2011">Continue reading...</a>CultureFilmMusicBooksStageArt and designMon, 26 Dec 2011 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/26/cultural-highlights-2011Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the GuardianThe Grayson Perry exhibition at the British Museum. Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the GuardianPhotograph: Antonio Olmos for the GuardianThe Grayson Perry exhibition at the British Museum. Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the GuardianGuardian Staff2011-12-26T10:00:00ZThe best mixtapes of 2011, plus club names of the yearhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/24/best-mixtapes-of-2011
Forget albums old man, the new thing is giving away a collection of tracks digitally for free. It's completely different, honest!<p><a href="http://bit.ly/dRISD0" title=""><strong>In The Mix For Benji B</strong></a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/24/best-mixtapes-of-2011">Continue reading...</a>Electronic musicClubbingMusicCultureSat, 24 Dec 2011 00:04:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/24/best-mixtapes-of-2011Photograph: Sarah LeeJamie xx. Photograph: Sarah LeePhotograph: Sarah LeeJamie xx. Photograph: Sarah LeeSam Richards2011-12-24T00:04:00ZPeter Robinson's 2011 music rounduphttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/24/peter-robinson-2011-music
Pitbull shouts, Ed Sheeran strums, and everything comes with a gloomwobble<p>It takes a few years' distance to look back on a year and define what it really sounded like, but the three front-running noises for 2011 are <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPo5wWmKEaI" title=""><strong>Pitbull</strong></a> shouting about being in the club, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/ed-sheeran" title=""><strong>Ed Sheeran</strong></a> strumming a guitar, and someone, somewhere, slapping a dubstep gloomwobble over a pop starlet's future single in the hope that it might be played by one of the handful of Radio 1 DJs not frothing at the mouth over Pitbull and Sheeran.</p><p>Two of the year's best videos came from <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/chase-and-status" title=""><strong>Chase And Status</strong></a> (their <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcVYBxHEry0" title="">Blind Faith</a> video sent clapped-out ravers of a certain age into a nostalgic tailspin) and <strong>Duck Sauce</strong> (whose unsavoury <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPIxcHOBeKQ" title="">Big Bad Wolf</a> clip is hard to describe without ruining the gag, but don't YouTube it when your relatives are round), while the pop yang to the yin of <strong>PJ Harvey</strong> winning the Mercury and various <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/16/pj-harvey-let-england-shake" title="">end-of-year critics polls</a> came with the news that <strong>Rebecca Black</strong>'s LOLpop behemoth, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0" title="">Friday</a>, was one of 2011's most searched-for songs online.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/24/peter-robinson-2011-music">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureSat, 24 Dec 2011 00:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/24/peter-robinson-2011-musicPhotograph: David Howells/David Howells/CorbisAmy Winehouse. Photograph: David Howells/CorbisPhotograph: David Howells/David Howells/CorbisAmy Winehouse. Photograph: David Howells/CorbisPeter Robinson2011-12-24T00:02:00ZMusic Weekly podcast: review of 2011https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/audio/2011/dec/22/music-weekly-review-2011-audio
Alexis Petridis is joined in the studio by special guests Katy B and Rizzle Kicks, plus the Guardian's own Rebecca Nicholson, to discuss the year in pop. And it's not all about Adele ...<p>The mince pies are out, the mulled wine has been brewed ... and it's time for our bumper review of 2011.</p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/katy-b">Katy B</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/rizzle-kicks">Rizzle Kicks</a> join pod regular <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/rebeccanicholson">Rebecca Nicholson</a> to blast through the big news of the year. Among topics discussed are Lana Del Ray's lips, the return of PJ Harvey, the award-winning Tinie Tempah and the untimely death of Amy Winehouse.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/audio/2011/dec/22/music-weekly-review-2011-audio">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureKaty BRizzle KicksThu, 22 Dec 2011 10:57:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/audio/2011/dec/22/music-weekly-review-2011-audioPhotograph: PRAdelePhotograph: PRAdelePresented by Alexis Petridis and produced by Matt Hill2011-12-22T10:57:44ZThe best song of 2011? It had to be by Lana Del Reyhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/19/best-song-2011-lana-del-rey
Alexis Petridis explains the appeal of Video Games by Lana Del Rey – voted <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/dec/19/best-songs-2011?intcmp=ILCMUSTXT9383" title="">song of the year</a> by our critics<p>First, the case for the prosecution. It would be nice if <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/lana-del-rey" title="">Lana Del Rey</a> really was the mysterious polymath auteur she briefly appeared to be when the vaguely <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/adam-curtis" title="">Adam Curtis</a>-like clip for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO1OV5B_JDw" title="">Video Games</a> started doing the rounds on the internet, rather than a female singer who's worked – like Adele, Duffy, Florence Welch and Katie Melua – with blue-chip songwriters-for-hire Eg White and Guy Chambers. It would be nice if the record company biog that called her "a recent resident of a New Jersey trailer park recently emerged from smalltown USA" didn't feel at least slightly duplicitous given she's actually Lizzy Grant, the daughter of a wealthy estate agent and internet domain magnate – "Hypnotic New Album From Domainer's Daughter Lana Del Ray Now Available!" offered Domain Name Journal's headline on the release of the 2010 debut album her management has gone out of the way to suppress – and the small town was Lake Placid, ski resort, tourist spot and self-styled "playground of North America". And it would be nice if the image overhaul she underwent – including the name change, never mind rumours about the size of her lips – hadn't provoked the kind of prose you find on MTV's Style Blog: "ZOMG she is so important … the self-proclaimed "gangster Nancy Sinatra' embodies the best of strong, sculpted eyebrows, bump-its and hairsprayed tonsorial PERFECTION."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/19/best-song-2011-lana-del-rey">Continue reading...</a>Lana Del ReyPop and rockMusicCultureMon, 19 Dec 2011 13:34:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/19/best-song-2011-lana-del-reyAlexis Petridis2011-12-19T13:34:00ZThe best songs of 2011https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/19/best-songs-2011
The top 40 tracks of the year, as voted for by Guardian writers<br /><strong><a href=" http://open.spotify.com/user/guardianmusic/playlist/6zHWYWWmqOymmIW2KfB3jg"><br />Listen to our list as a Spotify playlist! </a></strong><p><strong>1 Lana Del Rey</strong> – Video Games<br><strong>2 Azealia Banks</strong> – 212<br><strong>3 Tyler, the Creator</strong> – Yonkers<br><strong>4 Joe Goddard </strong>– Gabriel ft Valentina<br><strong>5 Frank Ocean</strong> – Swim Good<br><strong>6 Nicki Minaj</strong> – Super Bass<br><strong>7 Beyoncé</strong> – Countdown<br><strong>8 Adele</strong> – Rolling in the Deep (Jamie xx Remix)<br><strong>9 Rihanna</strong> – We Found Love<br><strong>10 A$AP Rocky</strong> – Peso<br><strong>11 Tune-Yards</strong> – Bizness<br><strong>12 PJ Harvey</strong> – The Words That Maketh Murder<br><strong>13 St Vincent</strong> – Surgeon<br><strong>14 Nicola Roberts </strong>– Dance to the Beat of My Drum<br><strong>15 Battles</strong> – Ice Cream<br><strong>16 Gang Gang Dance</strong> – Glass Jar<br><strong>17 Michael Kiwanuka </strong>– I'm Getting Ready<br><strong>18 Lady Gaga</strong> – Born This Way <br><strong>19 Anna Calvi</strong> – Blackout<br><strong>20 Cults </strong>– Go Outside<br><strong>21 Wilco</strong> – One Sunday Morning<br><strong>22 Junior Boys</strong> – Banana Ripple<br><strong>23 Lykke Li </strong>– Sadness Is a Blessing<br><strong>24 Drake ft Rihanna</strong> – Take Care <br><strong>25 Metronomy </strong>– The Look<br><strong>26 Willy Moon</strong> – I Wanna Be Your Man<br><strong>27 Rustie</strong> – Ultra Thizz<br><strong>28 James Blake</strong> – The Wilhelm Scream<br><strong>29 The Horrors</strong> – Still Life<br><strong>30 Beyoncé</strong> – 1+1<br><strong>31 Jamie xx and Gil Scott Heron</strong> – I'm New Here<br><strong>32 lll Blu</strong> – Meltdown<br><strong>33 Cloud Nothings</strong> – Heartbeat<br><strong>34 Maria Minerva</strong> – A Little Lonely<br><strong>35 Machine Head</strong> – Darkness Within<br><strong>36 Diddy Dirty Money</strong> – Coming Home<br><strong>37 June Tabor &amp; Oysterband</strong> – Fountains Flowing<br><strong>38 Radiohead</strong> – Morning Mr Magpie<br><strong>39 Canibus </strong>– Brainwash Reversal Remix<br><strong>40 King Krule</strong> – Bleak Bake</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/19/best-songs-2011">Continue reading...</a>Lana Del ReyPop and rockMusicIndieElectronic musicDance musicR&BHip-hopMetalFolk musicCultureMon, 19 Dec 2011 10:52:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/19/best-songs-2011Photograph: Andy Sheppard/RedfernsLana Del Ray's Video Games … Our top track of 2011. Photograph: Andy Sheppard/RedfernsPhotograph: Andy Sheppard/RedfernsLana Del Ray's Video Games … Our top track of 2011. Photograph: Andy Sheppard/Redfernsguardian.co.uk/music2011-12-19T10:52:00ZHidden gems of 2011: great classical recordings you may have missedhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/18/hidden-gems-classical-2011-maddocks
Fiona Maddocks and Nicholas Kenyon choose a selection of classical CDs that were overlooked this year<p>Soloists of the Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella (Toccata)</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/18/hidden-gems-classical-2011-maddocks">Continue reading...</a>Classical musicMusicCultureJS BachDmitri ShostakovichWolfgang Amadeus MozartSun, 18 Dec 2011 00:03:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/18/hidden-gems-classical-2011-maddocksPhotograph: CorbisHear Shostakovich's own war effort on Songs for the Front. Photograph: CorbisPhotograph: CorbisHear Shostakovich's own war effort on Songs for the Front. Photograph: CorbisFiona Maddocks and Nicholas Kenyon2011-12-18T00:03:02ZHidden pop gems of 2011https://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2011/dec/18/pop-world-jazz-hidden-gems-2011
The end of every year sees a chorus of acclaim heaped on a select few artists... but what about the unsung heroes who slip through the net? Our critics pick the pop, world music and jazz albums that deserved more attention in 2011 – and could make the perfect gift for the serious muso <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2011/dec/18/pop-world-jazz-hidden-gems-2011">Continue reading...</a>MusicSun, 18 Dec 2011 00:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2011/dec/18/pop-world-jazz-hidden-gems-2011Photograph: www.myqua.comNicolas Jaar
Photograph: www.myqua.comPhotograph: www.myqua.comNicolas Jaar
Photograph: www.myqua.comKitty Empire, Neil Spencer, Dave Gelly2011-12-18T00:01:00ZMusic Weekly podcast: Best albums of 2011https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/audio/2011/dec/16/music-weekly-best-albums-2011-audio
Alexis Petridis, Rebecca Nicholson, Tim Jonze and Kitty Empire discuss the Guardian's list of this year's top albums<p>As our <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/series/albums-of-2011">full list of the best albums of 2011</a> is published, Alexis Petridis, Rebecca Nicholson, Tim Jonze and Kitty Empire go through all 50 and pick out their highlights. They also talk in more detail about their choices.</p><p>The chat doesn't stop there. The panel also cover the list's surprises and notable exceptions, as well as a few explanations as to how it was compiled.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/audio/2011/dec/16/music-weekly-best-albums-2011-audio">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureFri, 16 Dec 2011 18:28:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/audio/2011/dec/16/music-weekly-best-albums-2011-audioPhotograph: Sipa Press / Rex FeaturesThe 'extraordinary' PJ Harvey, who bagged the Mercury for Let England Shake. Photograph: Sipa Press / Rex FeaturesPhotograph: Sipa Press / Rex FeaturesThe 'extraordinary' PJ Harvey, who bagged the Mercury for Let England Shake. Photograph: Sipa Press / Rex FeaturesPresented by Alexis Petridis and produced by Scott Cawley2011-12-16T18:28:00ZWhy 2011 was the year of the mixtapehttps://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/16/2011-hip-hop-mixtape
With labels scared to sign an artist that might not sell, no wonder this was the year the free hip-hop mixtape flourished<p>The free mixtape has long been a platform for emerging artists to get themselves noticed, but in 2011 the format came into its own. In fact, some of this year's best-loved music – from the Weeknd to A$AP Rocky – were released as online mixtapes, while "proper" albums by high-profile artists such as Lil Wayne, Drake, Jay-Z and Kanye West seemed underwhelming in comparison. </p><p>This change is partly down to economics. With the music industry squeezed tighter than ever, the cost of failure is massive for record labels. One of the unfortunate consequences of this is albums become compromised in a desperate attempt to shift units. So we have a singing hip-hop princess version of Nicki Minaj, because no major label is willing to take a chance on a female rapper. A sadly faltering Jay-Z is thrown together with Kanye West, neither of which manages to shine. And finally we get heavyweight releases from Cash Money's Lil' Wayne and Drake, both bloated with guests and ideas in the hope that if the record is long enough, something's going to stick. These records aren't all terrible – and certainly sold plenty of copies – but neither seemed to excite as much as, say, A$AP Rocky.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/16/2011-hip-hop-mixtape">Continue reading...</a>MusicCultureHip-hopRapA$AP RockyFri, 16 Dec 2011 17:36:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/16/2011-hip-hop-mixtapePhotograph: Public DomainKnockout … A$AP Rocky's LiveLoveA$APPhotograph: Public DomainKnockout … A$AP Rocky's LiveLoveA$APKyle Ellison2011-12-16T17:36:03ZBest albums of 2011, No 1: PJ Harvey - Let England Shakehttps://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/16/pj-harvey-let-england-shake
England did indeed shake this year to the sound of riots, protests and distant wars. No wonder, then, that PJ Harvey's raw yet meticulously researched record hit a nerve<p>Depicting war has always been an overwhelmingly male concern, even though it tears up lives indiscriminately. Last spring, not too long after the release of Let England Shake, an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2011/apr/08/women-war-artists-imperial-museum-in-pictures#/?picture=373423734&amp;index=0">exhibition called Women War Artists</a> opened at London's Imperial War Museum. Only a few pieces came within smelling distance of the grotesqueness of conflict. There was Doris Zinkeisen's Belsen painting, in which the wasted bodies of detainees are washed in chillingly impersonal fashion by corpulent Red Cross nurses. There was a scene from the Nuremberg trials by Dame Laura Knight, in which the formal courtroom crumbles into a ruined, smoking city. The horror was largely implied, but present in a way that all the girly, Home Front propaganda art could never countenance.</p><p>Let England Shake – a genuinely great piece of war art – was made by a woman, too, though in 2011 we really should have moved beyond finding this unusual. But Harvey's gender, and her upbringing on a Dorset farm, are both inherent to its greatness.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/16/pj-harvey-let-england-shake">Continue reading...</a>PJ HarveyPop and rockIndieMusicCultureFri, 16 Dec 2011 12:31:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/16/pj-harvey-let-england-shakePhotograph: Public Domain'A record that speaks urgently to our times' … PJ Harvey's Let England ShakePhotograph: Public Domain'A record that speaks urgently to our times' … PJ Harvey's Let England ShakeKitty Empire2011-12-16T12:31:00ZBest albums of 2011, No 2: Katy B – On a Missionhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/15/best-albums-2011-katy-b
Not only did Katy B showcase a new direction for dance music, she offered a fresh perspective on love, lust and London nightlife<p>This was the record that finally saw UK underground dance break into the charts, giving dubstep stars <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/magnetic-man" title="">Magnetic Man</a> and funky producers Geeneus and Zinc mainstream success. But what makes it one of our albums of the year is that it doesn't dwell on its bleeding-edge beats. Rather, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/katy-b" title="">Katy B</a> co-opted the dramatic production of her rave mates to tell stories about London's clandestine nightlife.</p><p>The record's charm stems from a total absence of ego: Katy was never trying to be a superstar. Early recording sessions had to be worked around her degree studies at Goldsmiths (for which she wrote her dissertation about the rise of UK funky). At that time, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/album/195d9dc9-9f73-4471-a36e-3a6c69f92076" title="">On a Mission</a> wasn't going to be an album with her name on, but a sampler for pirate radio station <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/aug/27/rinse-fm-geeneus" title="">Rinse FM</a> to showcase dance's new direction. DJs would submit a track and she would provide guest vocals.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/15/best-albums-2011-katy-b">Continue reading...</a>Katy BMusicDubstepElectronic musicDance musicPop and rockCultureClubbingThu, 15 Dec 2011 13:12:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/15/best-albums-2011-katy-bPhotograph: PR'It might as well have been written in the smoking area of Fabric' … Katy B's On a MissionPhotograph: PR'It might as well have been written in the smoking area of Fabric' … Katy B's On a MissionSam Wolfson2011-12-15T13:12:03ZReaders' cultural review of 2011: What, no Katy B?https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/14/readers-review-of-2011
Last week our critics picked their highlights of 2011. Did they get it right? Readers respond with their own highs (and lows) <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/14/readers-review-of-2011">Continue reading...</a>CultureFilmMusicClassical musicPop and rockTelevision & radioTelevisionTheatreStageComedyArchitectureArt and designOperaArtLeonardo da VinciKaty BDoctor WhoGruff RhysNicola RobertsGrayson PerrySusan HillerWed, 14 Dec 2011 21:31:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/dec/14/readers-review-of-2011Photograph: PRGenuinely funny … BridesmaidsPhotograph: PRGenuinely funny … BridesmaidsGuardian Staff2011-12-14T21:31:00ZBest albums of 2011, No 3: Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultrahttps://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/14/best-albums-2011-frank-ocean
Unafraid to tackle suicide, abortion and absent fathers, this free mixtape introduced one of our most refreshing new R&amp;B stars<p>Standing out from the crowd in pop is hard enough at the best of times, but when you're a member of hip-hop collective <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/odd-future-wolf-gang-kill-them-all" title="">Odd Future</a> it's near impossible. Odd Future, after all, are the group of LA skater kids who set 2011 ablaze with hype and featured one member (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/may/07/tyler-the-creator-odd-future" title="">Tyler, the Creator</a>) who fantasised about stabbing Bruno Mars, and another (Earl Sweatshirt) who wanted to "poke Catholics in the ass". Standing on the fringes of this gore-splattered gang was a 23-year-old R&amp;B kid called Frank who wrote songs for Justin Bieber and Beyoncé, and saw no shame in sampling the Eagles and MGMT.</p><p>Ingratiating himself with Odd Future showed Frank Ocean's skill of being in the right place at the right time while retaining his own identity. Indeed, <a href="http://oddfuture.tumblr.com/post/3364680732/frank-ocean-just-released-his-album-nostalgia" title="">Nostalgia, Ultra</a> seemed perfectly plugged into the pop world of 2011. The record was one of several mixtapes posted online this year that caused more of a buzz (see also <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/dec/07/albums-2011-weeknd-house-balloons" title="">the Weeknd's House of Balloons</a>, A$AP Rocky's LiveLoveA$AP) than some of the year's biggest "proper" releases. Ocean was also grouped among the current crop of "sensitive" R&amp;B types, although unlike the cocaine comedowns of the Weeknd or the meandering moans of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/nov/17/drake-take-care-review" title="">Drake</a>, he was behind a record with genuine heart.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/14/best-albums-2011-frank-ocean">Continue reading...</a>R&BMusicOdd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them AllHip-hopRapCultureFrank OceanWed, 14 Dec 2011 13:00:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/14/best-albums-2011-frank-oceanPhotograph: PR'Devastatingly honest' … Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, UltraPhotograph: PR'Devastatingly honest' … Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, UltraTim Jonze2011-12-14T13:00:33ZBest albums of 2011, No 4: Beyoncé – 4https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/13/best-albums-2011-beyonce-4
The thrill of pop is its instant rush, yet Beyoncé's fourth album was a refined record that showed she was in it for the long haul<p>People who don't like R&amp;B like Beyoncé, so it was understandably confusing when her fourth solo album turned out to be refined, straight-up R&amp;B. Unlike most of her peers, who have spent the past couple of years chasing the Guetta effect – layering Euro-synths on pop-step woomphs to create homogenised commercial R&amp;B – Beyoncé kept it classy. People complained 4 had too many ballads, it had no hits, it was nothing like the energetic Major Lazer-sampling first single Run the World (Girls). But that track was a red herring – a Single Ladies sequel suggesting ultra-modern glitches and more of the same Sasha Fierce-ness.</p><p>Instead, 4 ended up being a more muso affair, but without the death knell of dullness that term suggests. It was the sound of a pop star maturing, usually a polite way of saying "getting boring" or "giving up", but which Beyoncé effortlessly pulled off. This was partly owing to her choice of co-writers/producers. Madonna has only just cottoned on to Nicki Minaj and MIA; as one of the biggest singers in the world, it's a sign of confidence that Beyoncé trusted most of this to the-Dream. He wrote or produced (or both) its finest songs, from the blubby vocal-flexing showcase 1+1 to the dancehall-driven Countdown, and the twitchy, brassy End of Time, one of the few tracks she didn't release as a single, though she really should have. The excellent, understated slow jam I Miss You, meanwhile, was a Frank Ocean collaboration, again putting her ahead of the game where others were trying to catch up.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/13/best-albums-2011-beyonce-4">Continue reading...</a>BeyoncéMusicR&BCultureTue, 13 Dec 2011 11:32:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/13/best-albums-2011-beyonce-4Photograph: Public Domain'Ahead of the game' … Beyonce's 4Photograph: Public Domain'Ahead of the game' … Beyonce's 4Rebecca Nicholson2011-12-13T11:32:55ZBest albums of 2011, No 5: Bon Iver – Bon Iverhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/12/best-albums-2011-bon-iver
The story behind Bon Iver's debut album was so perfect some wondered if its fragile beauty was a one off. But the follow-up wove an even more ravishing tapestry of folk, ambient and MOR<br /><p>If there was reason to doubt Justin Vernon's staying power three years ago it was the seductive neatness of his debut album's backstory: the beardy midwesterner who disappeared into the snowy woods to nurse a broken heart. It suggested fluke brilliance and a future in the Americana undergrowth, where warm reviews mingle with modest sales. But the future sounded more intriguing after 2009's Blood Bank EP, whose eerie Auto-Tuned a cappella Woods caught the ear of Kanye West – and made Vernon the rapper's most unlikely favourite since Chris Martin.</p><p>Yet West's endorsement made a kind of sense. On his second album Vernon became, like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush in the 80s, as much a producer as a singer-songwriter. First-time listeners zeroed in on final track Beth/Rest, either smiling or frowning at the influence of melancholy 80s smoothies such as Bruce Hornsby and Phil Collins. But Vernon's new sound – bright yet blurry, like winter sunlight shining through mist – is no pastiche. It was as if he had extrapolated the elusive beauty of his keening voice and puzzling lyrics into the arrangements themselves, weaving a ravishing tapestry of folk, jazz, ambient, electronica and MOR.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/12/best-albums-2011-bon-iver">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockIndieFolk musicAmericanaMusicCultureMon, 12 Dec 2011 13:03:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/dec/12/best-albums-2011-bon-iverPhotograph: Public Domain'Like winter sunlight shining through mist' … Bon IverPhotograph: Public Domain'Like winter sunlight shining through mist' … Bon IverDorian Lynskey2011-12-12T13:03:35ZJohn Barry remembered by David Arnoldhttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/dec/11/john-barry-obituary-david-arnold
The veteran composer left millions of movie fans moved by his death in January at the age of 77, writes his friend and successor as Bond composer<p>I was eight when I heard John Barry's music for the first time – at a children's birthday party in a British Legion hall when they showed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm9cC33kXMA" title=""><em>You Only Live Twice</em>.</a> The opening just about took the top of my head off: a giant, alien-like spaceship consumed a smaller spaceship while John's music pounded underneath. It looked exotic and sounded incredible.</p><p>Then, in 1995, I was introduced to him by Sir George Martin. I was doing a cover record of some of John's Bond songs, for the album <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shaken-Stirred-David-Arnold-Project/dp/B000007VCD" title=""><em>Shaken and Stirred</em></a>. He was really friendly. We just yakked about the industry and about his experiences working with Cubby Broccoli (the Bond films producer), Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford among others.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/dec/11/john-barry-obituary-david-arnold">Continue reading...</a>John BarryJames BondMusicCultureFilmSun, 11 Dec 2011 00:05:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/dec/11/john-barry-obituary-david-arnoldPhotograph: Sarah Lee/GuardianJohn Barry in 2001: 'He was effortlessly elegant and cool.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the GuardianPhotograph: Sarah Lee/GuardianJohn Barry in 2001: 'He was effortlessly elegant and cool.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the GuardianDavid Arnold2011-12-11T00:05:00ZAmy Winehouse remembered by Mark Ronsonhttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/dec/11/amy-winehouse-obituary-mark-ronson
She was one of those magical people who burn more brightly than the rest of us…<p>It sounds creepy, but I used to love going to visit Amy at the London Clinic. Every now and then she'd get tired of the drink and she'd check herself into this private hospital&nbsp;about five minutes' taxi from Camden. It was her way of cleaning up, on her own terms, without having to go to rehab.</p><p>She'd go in. I'd call her. "Where are you?" "I'm in the clinic, getting dry." "Oh, um, sorry to hear it." "What are you sorry about? I'm the idiot who got myself into this state." And that was her attitude towards it. She had little time for emotions like pity anyway; she only liked the big ones: Love, Heartbreak, Death, etc. Once in, she'd make these miraculously speedy recoveries. It didn't matter how messed up she'd been for the past however long, how slurred her words had been when I had run into her just three days earlier. Day 2 in that place and it was the old Amy again, the Amy that I had met five years ago. She had her brilliant mind back, her razor-sharp wit, and a warmth, a beautiful lovingness that was sometimes obscured in the depths of abuse. I would hang out in her room there for hours and not ever want to leave, like a sleepover at your best friend's house when you're 13 years old.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/dec/11/amy-winehouse-obituary-mark-ronson">Continue reading...</a>Amy WinehouseMark RonsonPop and rockMusicCultureSun, 11 Dec 2011 00:05:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/dec/11/amy-winehouse-obituary-mark-ronsonPhotograph: Mark Allan/WireImageBest friends: Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse perform at The Brit awards in 2008. Photograph: Mark Allan/WireImagePhotograph: Mark Allan/WireImageBest friends: Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse perform at The Brit awards in 2008. Photograph: Mark Allan/WireImageMark Ronson2011-12-11T00:05:00Z